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Grey Knights Justicar
Justicar in Aegis Power Armour]] A Grey Knights Justicar is a rank held by squad leaders that is unique to the Grey Knights Space Marine Chapter. The first rank above a Grey Knights Battle-Brother, a Justicar is the equivalent of the Space Marine Sergeant found in Codex Astartes-compliant Chapters. Holding this command is the first step on the path for a Grey Knight to become a Grand Master of the Chapter. Justicars can also lead Grey Knights Terminator Squads, although such officers are usually referred to as a "Brother-Captain" rather than a Justicar. Unlike the lower ranks in the Grey Knights, a Justicar is permitted to wear his own personal heraldry as a sign of his position as a squad leader. Wargear and Storm Bolter]] *'Artificer Aegis Power Armour' *'Aegis Terminator Armour (Optional)' *'Wrist-Mounted Storm Bolter' *'Nemesis Force Weapon' *'Frag Grenades and Krak Grenades' *'Psyk-Out Grenades' *''Liber Daemonica'' - The Liber Daemonica is an enduring symbol of the Grey Knight's devotion to his mission, and contains the cardinal tenets of lore culled from the dark knowledge caged within the Sanctum Sanctorum's walls. Every Grey Knight carries a copy of the Liber Daemonica in a Ceramite case on his breastplate. These gnarled tomes contain the Chapter's rites of battle and detail the traditional duties of every Grey Knights' rank. The books themselves are also potent psychic talismans in their own right, with pages illuminated in silver and bound to a spine carved from the thigh bone of a martyred saint. Psychic Powers *''Hammerhand'' - Focusing the raging power of their minds, Grey Knights can augment their already prodigious might. Even unarmed, such a warrior can crush flesh and bone in close combat -- given blade or warhammer there is little limit to what they can slay. Notable Grey Knights Justicars Justicar in Aegis Terminator Armour]] *'Justicar Alaric' - Justicar Alaric found himself and the Grey Knights strike force under his command hunting down the Daemon Prince of Tzeentch named Ghargatuloth, the Prince of a Thousand Faces. In the course of this hunt, Alaric discovered a number of hidden Chaos Cults along the Trail of Saint Evisser, a sequence of Imperial worlds scattered across the far western edge of the Segmentum Solar, who were servants of the Daemon Prince. When his ally in the hunt, the Inquisitor Ligea, found her mind being altered by the powers of the daemons, and was subsequently executed at the Inquisitorial prison located on Mimas, another of the moons of Saturn, Alaric was forced to decipher the secrets of the Trail himself. His quest finally led him to Volcanis Ultor, the Hive Superior (Hive World) of the Trail. It was on Volcanis, after a brief battle with the confused Sisters of Battle of the Order of the Bloody Rose, that Alaric made his way into the fallen Saint Evisser's tomb and faced off against the Chaos-corrupted body of the saint and its unimaginable strength. It is only when his fellow Grey Knight, the Terminator Justicar Tancred, smote the Chaos-corrupted Saint that Ghargatuloth was able to emerge into realspace. By saying the daemon's true name, Alaric brought the creature into the physical realm, where with the help of all the loyal Imperial forces nearby they banished the Daemon Prince back into the Warp for another one thousand Terran years. Mental qualities normally destroyed by the training of a Grey Knight such as imagination and creativity were still found in Alaric. Combined with the physical and psychic abilities of a Grey Knight, his sharp mind was the decisive factor that later allowed him to survive on the Daemon World of Drakaasi where he was captured and stripped of his armor. These same characteristics are sometimes deemed by his peers as an unwanted risk amongst Grey Knights and may ultimately prevent Alaric from attaining the rank of Captain within the Chapter. However, Inquisitor Nyxos seems to have special plans to better employ Alaric's skills within the Inquisition in the days to come. *'Justicar Genhain' - Justicar Genhain and his squad were selected by Justicar Alaric to accompany him in the dangerous hunt for Ghargatuloth. Like Alaric and his fellow Justicars, Genhain had previously been involved in the capture of the renegade Inquisitor Gholic Ren-Sar Valinov, then on the run from the powerful Ordo Malleus. Genhain soon became a valuable asset within the small taskforce, his affinity with weapons ensuring that despite their limited resources, every Knight’s Stormbolter would function to perfection. Acting as Alaric’s emissary on Titan, it was Justicar Genhain whom petitioned Chaplain Durendin to unearth the only weapon capable of hurting Ghargatuloth, the Sword of Mandulis. Delivering the sword safely to Alaric, Genhain rejoined his Battle-Brothers in time to confront the reborn Ghargatuloth, which had possessed the bones of Saint Evisser and turned him into a monster. Where other weapons proved of little effect, Genhain’s Nemesis Power Mace proved the perfect tool to break the distorted bones of the Fallen Saint. Genhain’s timely action saved Alaric’s life with whom he faced the monstrosity until Justicar Tancred finally slew it. Surviving Ghargatuloth's rebirth, it was Genhain who recovered the sacred Sword of Mandulis and would see to it that it was safely returned to the Chapter. *'Justicar Santoro' - Justicar Santoro was a devout warrior which talked little but whose piercing eyes saw much. Many believed that he would one day ascend to the Chapter’s Reclusiam and become a Chaplain. As leader of a Grey Knights Purgation Squad, Santoro commanded an impressive amount of firepower and having shared the same path of Alaric, Genhain and Tancred, Santoro was chosen to accompany Inquisitor Ligea in her hunt for Ghargatuloth. Illustrating himself in the Trail of Saint Evisser, it was eventually Santoro who would capture Ligea after she herself had turned traitor and helped the renegade Inquisitor Gholic Ren-Sar Valinov to escape his execution. Remaining alongside Alaric while Ligea was transported back to Saturn, Santoro faced the reincarnated Daemon Prince alongside his brothers, but perished in the fight. *'Justicar Tancred' - Justicar Tancred was a revered figure within the Chapter, a born fighter and according to the words of Justicar Alaric, the best swordman he had ever seen. Tancred was an expert close-quarter combatant, which according to records, has only been bested by Brother-Captain Arvann Stern himself, who broke Tancred's nose during a training session. Tancred would eventually have risen to become a Grey Knights Captain himself, had he not chosen the life of an elite soldier instead. Leading his Grey Knights Terminator Squad in battle, Tancred and his brothers participated in numerous actions against heretics, cultists and daemons. On Thetys, Tancred and his squad fought alongside their later comrades of Squad Alaric, Santoro and Genhain to capture the renegade Inquisitor Gholic Ren-Sar Valinov, whose trail would lead him to his ultimate mission in the Trail of Saint Evisser. Despatched under the nominal orders of Inquisitor Ligea and acting Brother-Captain Alaric, the Grey Knights strike force hunted down the trail of the Daemon Prince Ghargatuloth, the Prince of a Thousand Faces and powerful Herald of Tzeentch to the world of Volcanis Ultor. In a series of complex plots and machinations, whose foundations were laid even before his first banishment at the hands of Grand Master Mandulis a thousand years earlier, Ghargatuloth was reborn, taking possession of the Fallen Saint’s bones. Standing four times the height of a Grey Knight, the Saint fought the strike force and slaughtered any Astartes who strayed too near. Tancred, wielding the Sword of Mandulis, was also battered aside and wounded, which did not keep him from rising again. Approaching the Fallen Saint, Tancred recited the time-honoured Battle Prayer of a Martyred Grey Knight, "I am the Hammer. I am the sword in His hand. I am the Gauntlet about His fist. I am the Bane of His foes and the woes of the treacherous. I am the End." Tancred charged the Fallen Saint and cut off his massive hand just in time to save Justicar Santoro. With Justicars Santoro's and Alaric's help, Tancred beheaded the Fallen Saint, thus allowing Ghargatuloth to be born into realspace once again, for the ritual demanded that he be struck down by the very weapon that had first banished him. Yet again, Tancred was swatted aside by a rising pillar of flesh, tentacles and daemonic faces that was Ghargatuloth, and thus, giving his life so that Alaric could seize the opportunity he needed to say the daemon's true name and banish the hellspawned creature for another thousand years. Although the Sword of Mandulis was recovered, neither Tancred's body nor his battle-plate were found at the scene of the terrible fight, which has left some to speculate that he might yet still live within the mind-altering eddies of the Warp. *'Justicar Anval Thawn' - Destined to perform great deeds, Anval Thawn was found by the Grey Knights' Gatherers aboard one of the many Black Ships that continuously scour the galaxy to bring powerful psykers to Terra. The many notable deeds performed by this valiant Grey Knight earned Thawn the rank of Justicar, and he soon came to rival the Chapter's greatest and most honoured heroes. Thawn was eventually slain upon the unholy spear of a foul daemon. When he was to be interred within the holy crypts on the Grey Knights' homeworld of Titan, he was miraculously resurrected from death by unknown means. Since that time, Thawn has died several times, but on each occasion, he somehow returns to life, ready to continue to battle the enemies of Mankind. Some believe he is an agent of destiny, the promised immortal warrior of prophecy who, at the last, will die surrounded by enemies at the foot of the Golden Throne itself. Whether this prophecy will come to pass remains to be seen. *'Justicar Tarn' - Tarn was a member of the Grey Knights Task Force "Pure Steel". On the burning world of Phaedes Ekron, Tarn battled against the Bloodthirster Skarbrand. Justicar Tarn made the ultimate sacrifice as Skarbrand butchered his way clear of an ambush, and Tarn held the daemon off single-handed as the Grey Knights waited for reinforcements. The outcome of the fight beyond Tarn's death is unknown. Sources *''Codex: Grey Knights'' (5th Edition), pg. 29 *''Codex: Daemon Hunters'' (3rd Edition), pg. 7 *''Imperial Armour Volume Seven - The Siege of Vraks - Part Three'', pg. 101 *''The Inquisition: Illustrated Guide'' (Background Book), pg. 52 *''Grey Knights'' (Novel) by Ben Counter, Ch. 1 *''The Hammer of Daemons'' (Novel) by Ben Counter *''The Emperor's Gift'' (Novel) by Aaron Demski-Bowden *''The Killing Ground'' (Novel) by Graham McNeill *''White Dwarf Weekly'' 87 (September 2015), "Daemons of Khorne - Skarbrand the Bloodthirster" es:Justicar Category:G Category:Grey Knights Category:Space Marines Category:Imperium Category:Ordo Malleus Category:Inquisition Category:Titles